What is EHR? (Electronic Health Records)

The decision to purchase an EHR is THE major purchase that most practices will make.

A system will determine the work flow of an office and the satisfaction of its patients. An EHR is not a one size fits all product. Some systems are specialty specific, some are built for hospital environments, some for the single doctor practice, and some for multiple location multiple provider practices. The system your friend has, you used to work with, or they use at the clinic, most likely will not be the system to place in your practice. That is why a neutral party consultant with no ties to any vendor is the correct professional to assist with your decision.

The assessment phase is foundational to all other EHR implementation steps, and involves determining if the practice is ready to make the change from paper records to electronic health records (EHRs), or to upgrade their current system to a new certified version.

Why Implement EHRs?

More importantly, the assessment phase should address the following question: “WHY” implement EHRs? This EHR implementation step should help practice leadership evaluate their current state to determine what is working well and what can be improved. Some of the questions providers ask themselves during this phase include:

“Am I accomplishing what I thought I would be doing when I decided to go to medical school?”

“Are we providing the best possible care to our patients, or are we simply trying to make it through the week?”

“If I had more time, what would I do differently?”

“What would it be like to leave the office yet stay connected to my practice?”

At this stage, practice leadership and staff should consider the practice’s clinical goals, needs, financial and technical readiness as they transition.

Assess Your Current Practice

The assessment should look at the current state of the practice:

Are administrative processes organized, efficient, and well documented?

Are clinical workflows efficient, clearly mapped out, and understood by all staff?

Are data collection and reporting processes well established and documented?

Are staff members computer literate and comfortable with information technology?

Does the practice have access to high-speed internet connectivity?

Does the practice have access to the financial capital required to purchase new or additional hardware?

Are there clinical priorities or needs that should be addressed?

Does the practice have specialtyspecific requirements?

Through the Regional Extension Centers (RECs), we’ve learned that these questions and assessment tools provide a good understanding of the current state of the practice and can help identify key goals for improvement. Often, these goals relate to patient quality, patient satisfaction, practice productivity and efficiency, improved quality of work environment, and most important to the overall goal – improved health care.

Envision the Future

The next EHR implementation step is to envision the future state of the practice. What would the practice leadership like to see different in the future? More specifically:

What will be different for the patients?

What will be different for the providers?

What will be different for the staff?

Set Goals

Goals and needs should be documented to help guide decision-making throughout the implementation process. And they may need to be re-assessed throughout the EHR implementation steps to ensure a smooth transition for the practice and all staff.

We recommend that you set goals in areas that are important and meaningful to your practice. These may be clinical goals, revenue goals, or goals around work environment. Goals in all three areas will help assure balanced processes after the implementation. Goals that are important to you will help you and your staff through the change process. We recommend you follow the “SMART” goals process. This process includes setting objectives and goals that meet the following criteria:

Specific – Achieving the goal would make a difference for our patients and our practice

Measureable – We can quantify the current level and the target goal

Attainable – Although the goal may be a stretch, we can achieve it

Relevant – This is worth the effort

Time bound – There are deadlines and opportunities to celebrate success!

These goals become the guide posts for an EHR implementation project, and achieving these goals will motivate providers and practice staff to make necessary changes and attain new skills.

Critical outcomes of the assessment process include:

A designated leadership team for the EHR implementation process (clinical and practice management staff, or for small practices, the entire team). Having strong and positive advocate(s) for change can be one of the strongest tools to guide the transition.

A unified vision, where each member of the practice team understands how they will be affected by the change and understands the roadmap to success.

Measureable, quantifiable, realistic goals, which are the key to the assessment phase

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Bryan Brothers is a healthcare consultant with over ten years’ experience in the healthcare and insurance industries.

With a start in IT business and retail network development, the transition to electronic medical records and meaningful use consulting services was a natural fit.

Bryan is a member of AHIMA, HIMMS, and the NRHA.

He served on the advisory board of Jefferson Technical College’s HIT program. As member of the staff of the University of Kentucky’s Regional Extension Center, worked as a policy and implementation advisor as well as a security consultant. Bryan has served major clients such as lead advisor to Norton Healthcare, and Twin Lakes Medical Foundation and worked with many prominent groups in central KY such as Nephrology Associates of Kentuckiana.

As the former REC Administrator for University Health Care, Bryan brings experience and knowledge to the table as a trusted advisor and privacy and security expert. In 2012 Bryan was commissioned as a Kentucky Colonel by Governor Steven Beshear, the award being the highest honor awarded by the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

Bryan has worked with over 1100 providers, assisting with the achievement of meaningful use, and completion of the HIPAA privacy and security risk assessment.

When Bryan performs a HIPAA Security Risk Assessment, he includes the following:

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